Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 64: Flag Wars (4)

The battlefield had split cleanly.

Aren watched for only a few seconds longer before his instincts told him what his eyes already knew.

The Curse vs Fire fight would end first. And right on queue, they really did.

A surge of dark ether swallowed the last of a Fire’s resistance. A pillar of flame sputtered before dying inside a suffocating barrier. One of the Fire representatives collapsed to a knee. The other tried to break through but was immediately sent flying before he dropped his flag.

The Curse Team picked it up, with the scoreboard updating immediately.

Eliminated Department: Fire.

The rankings shifted.

Curse: 7

Ice: 5

Lightning: 3

Wind: 3

Below, the bald Curse user laughed openly, lifting Fire’s flag and tucking it neatly away.

"Told you," he called out, breathing hard but grinning wide. "Points are just lining up for us."

Sunglasses adjusted his frames, exhaling slowly as the dark barrier around them dissolved.

"Now we hunt for our rat."

The arena drones hovering high above flickered once, their lenses distorted as if caught in interference. A thin web of electromagnetic distortion rippled outward before striking every drone within range.

Gasps erupted from the stands.

"Hey, what’s going on?!"

"The footage just cut—!"

But down below, the rat had finally shown himself. Aren stepped forward from behind a tree before raising one hand in a lazy wave.

"Looking for me?"

The bald one’s grin faltered.

Sunglasses’ posture shifted subtly, eyes narrowing as he studied the distortion still lingering in the air.

"Turning off the camera so the audiences don’t see you lose too badly, eh?" the bald one taunted.

"Just the opposite," he replied lightly. "I’m saving you some face."

He tilted his head slightly, lightning crackling faintly beneath his skin.

"When I take your flags."

The crackled underneath his skin shaped itself into the scales he’d always known. They surfaced along his forearms, dark and metallic, almost like armor.

His pupils narrowed before turning a deep golden color. Two blades condensed into his hands, electricity crackling all over the edge.

Both Curse members took a step back.

"Wha—what kind of Bloodline is that?!" the bald one yelled out.

Sunglasses’ face turned sour quickly as his dark barrier flickered under the pressure.

"How can you use Morphing already?!"

Aren flexed his fingers once, scales shifting smoothly along his knuckles.

"Who said I couldn’t?"

He didn’t wait for them to recover, crossing the distance in a single step. The bald one barely managed to raise a black barrier instinctively, but it shattered on contact as both of Aren’s swords drove straight into it.

The impact sent him flying across the plains.

Sunglasses tried to stack a second barrier, chanting under his breath...but Aren was already there.

The second barrier hadn’t finished forming when one blade cut downward, electricity tearing through it like a sheet of paper. Then, Aren twisted his body, jabbing his elbow straight into Sunglasses’ chest.

The man hit the ground hard before he laid completely still. The bald one staggered back to his feet, coughing up blood. The tattoos on his forehead shifted as he tried to force another curse into shape.

"Consuming Flames!"

A wave of dark fire spread throughout the area, rotting everything it touched. But just as it was about to hit Aren, with just a single swing of his sword, the fire had dissolved entirely.

The bald one stumbled back in fear, eyes wide as Aren walked slowly toward him.

"Stay back!" he barked, his voice cracking. "St—stay back!"

Aren’s golden eyes met his and for a split second, the world seemed to slow...before a single word slipped out.

"You—monster!"

Dark shadows bled from the shifting tattoos on his forehead, spilling downward like ink before coiling back around him. They wrapped around his arms, his torso, his legs, binding their own master.

"No! No, stop it!" the bald student cried out, thrashing as the shadowed chains dug deeper, feeding on the fear that had summoned them.

The bald student’s body went slack, chains dissolving into wisps of smoke as consciousness left its master. In the next instant, both Curse representatives vanished, teleported out of the arena in defeat.

Eliminated Department: Curse, Wind.

Aren hadn’t bothered looking up. The golden hue between his eyes faded, followed by the scales receding smoothly beneath his skin.

He stepped forward, plunging both swords into the floor as he bent down to collect Curse team’s flags.

But just as he straightened, a familiar voice carried across the plains.

"Seems like you didn’t do so bad yourself?"

Aren looked up slowly, already knowing who it was.

"Well," he said as he turned his head fully toward her, "the journey to get here was painful, I’ll admit."

Luna stood opposite the plains along with two other members of her department. They looked almost unblemished, as if all their other fights had been a complete breeze.

"Not even surprised you beat Wind to be honest," he said evenly.

"Well," Luna replied lightly, "they did put up a good fight."

One of her teammates leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

"Captain," she muttered, not taking his gaze off Aren. "Why don’t we just smoke this guy and end it already?"

"He probably just hid and third-partied the last team anyway."

Aren blinked once.

Ouch, she’s not even wrong in that assessment.

Luna didn’t even look at her.

"You’re welcome to try."

The member nodded her head and sprinted forward instantly.

Cold air exploded outward as she kicked off the ground, shards of ice forming in midair before launching toward Aren.

The first shard shattered against an invisible arc of lightning that snapped outward from his blade. The second never reached him

With just a single step, he appeared in front of her. Using just the hilt of his blade, he drove it precisely into her stomach with enough force to knock the air from her lungs.

The Ice student hit the ground hard, sliding across the frozen surface she had just created.

"Does this count as bullying?" Luna asked lightly.

"Well, you did tell her to attack me."

Before Luna could respond, the faint static lingering in the air crackled sharply.

High above, the arena drones finally started working once more. The feed resumed once as the audience erupted.

"What just happened?!"

"How did he do that?!"

"He took out an Ice rep in one blow!"

Screens across the arena replayed the moment in slow-motion. Aren glanced briefly upward at the hovering drones, faint annoyance flickering across his face.

So much for the blackout. The school’s tech support was way too competent.

Luna giggled softly as if she could read his mind.

"Right...could you just politely hand over your flags?"

The frost at her feet deepened as she floated into the air. The remaining Ice representative stepped back without being told, understanding it without words.

Across the arena, Aren picked up both swords, lightning dancing across them as he crouched down low, ready to spring.

"No can do, sorry," he replied with a sharp smile. "I made a promise to win."

The scoreboard shimmered faintly overhead as the rankings appeared.

Lightning: 10

Ice: 8

Everyone in the audience leaned out of their chairs as faculty stopped mid-conversation...

Why?

Because this one versus one would decide the fate of the entire school year.